Werewolves of Midgar
by sanctum-c
Summary: Nocturnal wanderings were nothing new for Aeris; but the dreams? Something else entirely.


There were problems and complexities of growing up in the slums that everyone had to deal with. Lack of natural light thanks to the plates. Pervasive Mako stink – thanks to the plates. Bad and limited food. Crime lords a few sectors over. The toil of working through a week of work to find little to look forward to besides another week of work.

These problems Aeris shared, but she gained a few others – seemingly unique to her. The first was Turk intrusion – specifically Tseng come to bother her with a less than compelling 'come back to the cold, clinical mandibles of Hojo and endure whatever weird science he wanted and let them follow her to The Promised Land' speech. Turk intrusion was not a huge issue all things considered. The night-time wanderings were.

Being out of bed at night was not unusual for Aeris. For a time, she had stuck rigidly to all of Elmyra's rules. Be in bed by eight, nine or ten at the latest. Come home for dinner. That kind of thing. But for all the problems of the slums and Midgar in general, there was too much to see and do. And when she hit fourteen there came other appealing factors. Boys and girls; happy to partake in kissing and making the most of the times the adults slept. Something Mom would frown on; Aeris would take pains to go to bed, wait for Mom to turn in- A waterpipe was close enough to her window to let her clamber out and make her way to the ground.

And from there- The nights long and full of possibilities. She could cope – for a time until exhaustion made venturing out after bedtime was too much.

At first, that seemed the most logical explanation; she had come out for fun and sleep had gotten the better of her. A good excuse to cling to though it never rung true. It must be the explanation. But she could not recall leaving the house or meeting with her friends or why she never made it back. At least the church she awoke in was not a bad place to doze off but-

A month later it happened again. This time she awoke and got home too late to avoid detection by Mom. Not that the resulting grounding hindered her - though she took her time before sneaking from her window again. Everything was fine for an interim; she would meet up, have her fun and sneak back before she dozed off.

The third time confirmed the strange night-time wanders coincided with her cycle. Which might go a long way to explain the exhaustion (mild anaemia from heavy bleeding) – if not the memory loss. What was this? Some subtle questions did not reveal a similar occurrence for any of her friends or girlfriends. This seemed unique to her. Not hard to pick a potential reason that might be a root cause. Should her mother have warned her?

For the next three years, the pattern continued. No matter what Aeris tried, she would wake at the same point in her cycle somewhere else. Mostly the church but often in random other locations around Sector Five. Odder still, none of her friends ever witnessed her on these occasions. What had she been doing?

At seventeen, at the same time of the month, Aeris dreamed. She woke before midnight, the room stuffy. She threw back her windows but the heat did not dissipate fast enough. She pulled her pajamas off, shivering in the colder night air. Breathing grew heavier-

She dropped into a crouch, stretching her legs out behind her, fingers clawing at the floor.

The chill faded, a new warmth enveloping her, the colour leeching out of the world.

New scents in the air; underneath the Mako. People. Food.

New sounds; the distant rumble of traffic on the upper plate, the rattling of the spiralling track leading above and below the plates.

Aeris stalked forward, paws resting on the windowsill.

Could not announce to the night – not yet.

Back legs scrambled on rumpled sheets-

Crouch. Tense. Leap.

Through the air. Good landing. Freedom, the space. She ran forward, scrambling up and over debris easily, leaping from vantage point to vantage point, moving, surging forward.

Stay clear of the other predators.

Look for food.

When Aeris awoke the next morning – at home for once – the dream remained vivid. But strange. To move so freely and so fast around the sector- From one such dream to a series of five – beginning and ending with her period. Rushing across Sector Five, leaping, exploring. Common places the dream would take her each time, new locations on others.

At nineteen, the dream was subtly different. For the first time, Aeris dreamt of a friend. The friend backed away in terror, fleeing and Aeris pursued. The friend shouted for help, rushing headlong before her. Something of interest. But also her friend. But it ran and so she chased. A fortunate basement window allowed her friend to escape; Aeris grew bored and ventured elsewhere.

Nothing but a dream – but that same friend later recounted a terrifying encounter with an unfamiliar monster, something covered in fur with snarling jaws and red eyes. Too much to be coincidence. But the inescapable conclusion-

Fearful to go to sleep after. But no matter how hard she tried to stay awake, sleep always overcame. Some time before she next encountered a friend, but on the next- Aeris stopped, backed off and left her friend alone. She ran but no need to chase. A strain at first, but easier over time. Joy in the boundless and energetic exploration of her home sector. Rushing and leaping.

And two years later, everything changed once more. The night was hot, the air sweltering. Her fur made moving tiresome. Aeris ventured to the river that ran past her house. Not nearby – and not at the far end where run-off from the sector changed the water a murky grey. She would use the river to cool off-

Someone in the river. Unfamiliar.

Man. Pale, spiky hair.

Naked – or half-naked; the water hiding his lower half. Toned and lithe body- The sight enraptured, she content to sit and watch as this stranger washed in the river, hands spreading soap across his muscles, ducking his head into the cold water to wash his hair. Aeris wanted... more. She slid into the water, approaching, trying not to scare the man. She licked her lips – a nervous tick- Wait. She had lips again. A blink. The colour was back in the world, the water cold against her bare skin, night air warm enough to make it bearable.

And she was not wearing a thing. A shrug. This was fine. Aeris swam forward, the sense of need from before, the interest this man sparked in her not diminished in the slightest.


End file.
